I love reading to small children. If you ask my daughter, she'll tell you that I'm the best reader in the world. As she told a friend at school earlier this week, "There's nothing like the way Mom reads. She does voices and everything! The book comes alive!"
Unfortunately, as she has grown older, I've had fewer and fewer opportunities to read to her. She reads to herself now, and she enjoys reading to me almost as much as she likes having me read to her.
Recently, I had the opportunity to use my reading skills when I filled in for the school librarian for a couple days. The librarian wanted to teach the kids about Asian American authors, and she had selected four different authors with a few books from each. My mission was to tell the classes that came into the library about the authors and then to read a story from one of the authors. The book that I chose was Keiko Kasza's My Lucky Day.
Keiko Kasza grew up in Japan and lived with her parents and grandparents. She attended school in California and married an American. She started her career as a graphic designer but became a full-time writer in 1988. Her books feature talking animals, subtle humor, and comical illustrations.
My Lucky Day is a prime example of her work. As the story begins, Fox is in his house, reading a book called "Hunting A-Z" and sharpening his claws. Then there's a knock on the door. Fox opens the door to find a fat piglet. Piglet gives a horrified "Oh no!" Fox shouts, "Oh yes!" and declares that it's his lucky day. He thinks dinner has just accidentally showed up at his door. Piglet postpones his fate by convincing Fox that just a few little things will lead to a more enjoyable dinner for Fox. Read the book and find out whether it really is Fox's lucky day!
The story is a good one. Part of being an effective story reader is having the right story to start with. Fortunately, My Lucky Day begs to be read aloud to a room full of kids (use a high, squeaky voice for Piglet and a low, gruff voice for Fox). I read the book to over a half dozen classes ranging from Kindergarten to fourth grade, and all of the kids enjoyed it. Since the reading level is around second grade, many of the kids in the older classes had read the story before, but even those kids loved hearing it again! The younger children were concerned about the piglet at first. But occasionally, there were stifled giggles as the kids who hadn't heard it before figured out what would eventually happen to Piglet and Fox. Best of all, the story wasn't written in rhyme. (Those kinds of books are cute on first read or two, but after repeated readings in the same day, it's enough to make me nutty!)
The gouache illustrations are large and colorful, using soft, bright pastels against a white background. The pictures offer running jokes that aren't necessarily covered in the text. The kids all laughed at Piglet's sly looks and at Fox's increasing beleaguered expressions.
The only complaint about My Lucky Day that I received was that our school library didn't have enough copies of the book. It seems that many of the children wanted to check out copies to take home and read with their parents!
If you child like other humorous animal tales like Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, Karma Wilson's Bear Snores On, or Helen Ketterman's Armadillo Tattletale, you will love this book. Pick it up, and it will be your child's lucky day!
Trivia
Gouache (pronounced "qwash") is similar to watercolor, but is heavier and more opaque. Artists started using it in the 19th century, and it has been used commonly in Europe and North America since. Today's artists enjoy working with it because dries quickly, can be wetted and reworked after it has dried, and because it produces a more consistent, flat color than watercolor.
When a delicious-looking piglet knocks on Mr. Fox's door "accidentally," the fox can hardly believe his good luck. It's not every day that dinner just...More at HotBookSale
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